What does a product development manager do?
A product development manager spearheads the development of new products within a company. Most of the time, their responsibilities revolve around conducting marketing research and analysis to determine consumers' needs, coordinating with the product development team to come up with new ideas, proposing business plans to the executives, and creating prototypes. A product development manager must also present a cost analysis, produce progress reports, and address inquiries and concerns. Furthermore, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the staff, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
Product development manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real product development manager resumes:
- Used PLM tools to track, manage, and organize the development process.
- Design front-end UX for e-tailor website, manage customer service tracking and CRM solutions.
- Manage the entire development and implementation process for a $750K SaaS solution for education.
- Lead acquisition of StudyinBritain.com, expanding client base to schools in the UK and Ireland.
- Lead development of open API, blogs, custom video player, numerous sites, and internal applications.
- Establish reliable and predictable agile process, with measure KPIs and quantitative metrics; manage release schedule and risk.
- Implement new process for OEM sales support.
- Create product flow diagrams and HTML prototypes.
- Addressed processor silicon bug through BB Java VM engine modification.
- Develop roles base on work output and ethics including: Sr.
- Collaborate with commercial team to interface with customers regarding VOC input.
- Foster agile methodology by running monthly planning and daily scrum status meetings.
- Contribute to strategic discussions with stakeholders at daily-weekly scrums, scrum master.
- Implement Java solution allowing all software products to be access via an Intranet/Internet.
- Develop and assure departmental KPIs are align with corporate goals and plant needs.
Product development manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 11% of Product Development Managers are proficient in Product Development, Project Management, and Lifecycle Management. They’re also known for soft skills such as Detail oriented, Math skills, and Analytical skills.
We break down the percentage of Product Development Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Product Development, 11%
Participated in summits and traveled internationally to China in order to provide creative, commercial and product development direction to licensees.
- Project Management, 9%
Trained and mentored staff on project management methodology, product development process, critical path development, and business case development.
- Lifecycle Management, 7%
Worked with Product Managers to continually monitor quality, stability, and lifecycle management for products, features, and strategies.
- Product Management, 6%
Contributed to strategic decisions with Product Management Team by recommending, evaluating and approving assortment selections for target markets.
- R, 5%
Developed an entirely new category of toddler toys for an exclusive launch at Toys R Us.
- Customer Service, 4%
Interacted regularly with other management, clients and support staff to constantly improve overall operations and customer service.
Common skills that a product development manager uses to do their job include "product development," "project management," and "lifecycle management." You can find details on the most important product development manager responsibilities below.
Analytical skills. This is an important skill for product development managers to perform their duties. For an example of how product development manager responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to analyze industry trends to determine the most promising strategies for their organization." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a product development manager: "analyzed & applied compliance requirements (fda and epa) for 100% compliant product lines. ".
Communication skills. For certain product development manager responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "communication skills." The day-to-day duties of a product development manager rely on this skill, as "managers must be able to communicate effectively with a broad-based team made up of other managers or staff members during the advertising, promotions, and marketing process." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what product development managers do: "coordinate product development projects from inception through manufacturing launch with a focus on efficiency, communication, and winning business. "
Organizational skills. Another common skill required for product development manager responsibilities is "organizational skills." This skill comes up in the duties of product development managers all the time, as "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must manage their time and budget efficiently while directing and motivating staff members." An excerpt from a real product development manager resume shows how this skill is central to what a product development manager does: "identified need and restructured organizational roles for program management team supporting new product development and sustaining / revenue products. "
Creativity. Another skill commonly found on product development manager job descriptions is "creativity." It can come up quite often in product development manager duties, since "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to generate new and imaginative ideas." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day product development manager responsibilities: "reviewed & suggested new products* managed vrf and water product inventory* created business plans and incentives* assisted with training & equipment startup"
The three companies that hire the most product development managers are:
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Compare different product development managers
Product development manager vs. Product lead
A product lead is responsible for monitoring the development of new products and services of an organization, starting from brand conceptualization to official market release and distribution. Product leads identify effective product management by conducting data analysis and evaluating market statistics of customer demands. They coordinate with the clients on their specifications and requirements, including the budget limit and timely deliverables. A product lead manages the brand promotion on media platforms, creating content that adheres to the target audience.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a product development manager are more likely to require skills like "strong project management," "software development," "development projects," and "market trends." On the other hand, a job as a product lead requires skills like "architecture," "digital marketing," "cloud," and "emerging technologies." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Product leads earn the highest salaries when working in the hospitality industry, with an average yearly salary of $129,039. On the other hand, product development managers are paid more in the retail industry with an average salary of $107,708.On average, product leads reach higher levels of education than product development managers. Product leads are 5.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.7% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Product development manager vs. Product management director
A Product Management Director is responsible for a business product planning as well as execution throughout the life cycle of the business. They create the product strategy and requirements, develop and execute tactical plans, and maintain product and market knowledge.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real product development manager resumes. While product development manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "strong project management," "development projects," "quality standards," and "product performance," product management directors use skills like "cloud," "analytics," "digital transformation," and "product vision."
Product management directors earn a higher average salary than product development managers. But product management directors earn the highest pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $159,020. Additionally, product development managers earn the highest salaries in the retail with average pay of $107,708 annually.In general, product management directors achieve higher levels of education than product development managers. They're 10.7% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Product development manager vs. Product director
The duties of a product director depend on one's place or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around overseeing the product development operations to ensure smooth flow and efficiency, devise strategies to improve processes, gather relevant data such as sales and customer feedback, and coordinate with different departments in developing new products and services. Furthermore, as a director, it is essential to lead and encourage departments to meet goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations, including its mission and vision.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from product development manager resumes include skills like "customer service," "strong project management," "development projects," and "quality standards," whereas a product director is more likely to list skills in "product vision," "kpis," "user experience," and "client facing. "
Product directors earn the best pay in the internet industry, where they command an average salary of $155,810. Product development managers earn the highest pay from the retail industry, with an average salary of $107,708.When it comes to education, product directors tend to earn higher degree levels compared to product development managers. In fact, they're 5.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Product development manager vs. Associate product manager
An associate product manager is someone who assists the product development teams in the development of new product features. The duties of an associate include formulation of product strategies, collection of quantitative product data, and interpretation of consumer feedback. The requirements to qualify for the position include a bachelor's degree in computer science, marketing, business management, or a related field, the ability to maintain strong customer relations, and excellent communication skills.
Types of product development manager
Updated January 8, 2025
